D core isnt good? You have one of the best young defensemen in the league as well as 2 (3 if you add Heinola) of the top defensive prospects in the league as well as some solid supporting cast
D core isnt good? You have one of the best young defensemen in the league as well as 2 (3 if you add Heinola) of the top defensive prospects in the league as well as some solid supporting cast
Compared to the other major countries, it's weak. Lindell and Heiskanen are very good. Ristolainen is terrible defensively, and the rest are bottom pairing NHL'ers.
FIN gotta hope Valimaki's growth continues or a wilcard like Juolevi saves the day in Vancouver... They don't quite have the top 4 D to cement their defensive core.
Forwards are pretty impressive though.
Compared to the other major countries, it's weak. Lindell and Heiskanen are very good. Ristolainen is terrible defensively, and the rest are bottom pairing NHL'ers.
All bottom pairing NHL'ers is kind of an exaggeration. Vatanen is on IR but normally plays top 6, Valimaki is only there because he's a rookie and is being sheltered, and Jokiharju is listed as "3rd pair" but averages 17 minutes a night as a sophomore.
I agree that on a grand scale of the olympics this d-core isn't amazing but it's definitely not bad and has a lot of potential, especially if you add Heinola
D core isnt good? You have one of the best young defensemen in the league as well as 2 (3 if you add Heinola) of the top defensive prospects in the league as well as some solid supporting cast
Heiskanen is the only "very good" d-man they have.